The Middle of the Night
by Bluekit5
Summary: Peeta comforts Katniss as she has another one of her terrible nightmares.


**Another Hunger Games one-shot! Oh yeah! I hop you like it! Enjoy!**

Peeta wakes up in the middle of the night to a screaming coming from the room next to him. Shuffling out of bed and to the door, he steps out into the hallway. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and opens the door to the room next to him.

Katniss screams even louder and starts to sob in her sleep. _Another nightmare,_ Peeta thinks to himself. Gently, he tries to grab a hold on her, but she's flailing around too much.

"Katniss wake up," he whispers softly into her ears. But she only screams. Peeta sighs and manages to get a grip on her and pulls her towards him. He lies down and cradles her gently in his arms. Her screams turn into soft whimpers and she stops sobbing. Slowly, her eyes flutter open.

"Peeta," she says softly. She moves closer to him and hides her face in his chest.

"You're ok, Katniss. I'm right here," Peeta murmurs. Katniss begins to cry softly.

"Peeta, it was horrible. Cato…Cato killed you Peeta with his horrible sword! Right in front of me! And he started to laugh and stabbed you again and again even though you were dead! And he tried to kill me too, but Rue got in his way and he killed her instead," Katniss' cries grow louder.

"Sh. It was just a dream Katniss," Peeta soothes her. Katniss curls up into a fetal position while Peeta wraps his arms around her, still crying a little. Peeta gently wipes the tears off her face and kisses her eyelids.

"It felt so real," Katniss cringes and squeezes her eyes shut.

"But it isn't," Peeta said and kisses her forehead. Katniss sniffs and nestles her face in the nook of Peeta's neck.

"Peeta. Please stay with me," Katniss pleads and brings her soft gray eyes up to meet his bright blue ones.

"Of course I will," Peeta says and rests his chin on the top of her head. Katniss sighs in relief and closes her eyes. Soon she falls asleep. Peeta doesn't fall asleep as fast as Katniss does, but soon he is out like a light.

The next morning, Katniss wakes up and finds Peeta is gone. At first, she is not worried by his absent, but suddenly she remembers her terrible nightmare. She stiffens and her mind goes blank. She feels like she is in a terrible nightmare state again and doesn't register that she has started to scream again. It feels like a nightmare, but she feels very awake.

Peeta rushes back to the room, a piece of bacon half-way hanging out of his my mouth. Flinging the door open, he finds Katniss screaming and flailing her arms and legs around on the bed. The bacon falls out of his mouth. He runs to the bed and lays down, pulling Katniss towards him. She still is flailing around and screams louder and louder. Her screams forms a name: _Peeta. _She screams his name over and over like she is searching for him and can't find him. Like a desperate mother or father yelling their child's name when they cannot find them.

"Katniss darling, wake up," Peeta says franticly when nothing that he usually does to calm her down works. But she is not asleep. He tries to pin down her flailing limbs after they keep hitting him repeatedly.

Haymitch walks in.

"Will get her to stop screaming already?" he says and staggers to the middle of the room. He's obviously drunk. "I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast, thank you very much." He staggers back out, slamming the door shut.

Effie is the next one to walk in.

"Peeta, dear. Can't you get her to stop?" Effie asks, clapping her hands together.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Peeta says through gritted teeth. Katniss finally stops screaming and whimpers instead. Effie nods her head, satisfied that Katniss has stopped screaming. Before she walks out, she adds,

"Oh and make sure she's presentable today." Peeta gives a little growl at Effie, but nods his head. Effie walks out, lightly closing the door.

Katniss opens her eyes and is blinded by sunlight. Peeta is next to her, looking relieved that she is awake. Groaning, Katniss flings an arm over Peeta's neck.

"Are you okay Katniss?" Peeta asks cautiously. Katniss looks confused.

"What are you talking about Peeta?" she asks. Peeta shakes his head and gives her a puzzled look.

"You had another nightmare. But in the morning. Which is weird," Peeta explains. Katniss frowns and sighs.

"Oh," she says.

"But what matters is that you're fine now. I'll bring you some breakfast," Peeta says and gets up. Katniss immediately misses his warmth and how he had his arms wrapped around her. He sees the look she gives him, but heads down the train's hallway anyway. He grabs a plate of food, saying a quick hello to Effie and a very drunk Haymitch. He swiftly walks back to Katniss's room. She is sitting up in bed now and he can tell she's beyond tired. Her hands go up to grab the plate from him. He watches as she eats. She notices, but ignores it. After she finishes, she sets the plate down on the nightstand.

"What time does Effie what us to be ready?" Katniss asks.

"Before 10:30," Peeta answers. Katniss glances over at the digital clock and sees it reads, _7:49. _She lies back down.

"We still have time to sleep," she says and closes her eyes. Peeta smiles and falls on the bed. He admits to himself that he is tired. Katniss scoots closer to him and he wraps his arms around her. Putting her head in the crook of his neck, Katniss sighs happily. Peeta puts his chin on top of her head like he did last night and closes his eyes.

"Goodnight Peeta," Katniss says before falling asleep.

"Goodnight Katniss. I love you," Peeta says even though he knows she already is asleep. To himself, he vows to protect Katniss as he braces himself for her nightmares to come.

**You like? Please review and tell me what you think! I'm going to try and make more Hunger Games one-shots for Peeta and Katniss! But I need ideas!**


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